Pre-Tea Leaf Reading Ritual

Make the tea

The first thing you need to do is make a cup of tea. Use loose tea so you'll have leaves to read when you're done drinking the liquid. Boil your water in a tea kettle, then put the leaves in to steep. If you are using black or green tea, it should be ready in a few minutes. If you choose herbal tea, it may take ten to fifteen minutes to steep to full flavor.

The tea cup

Choose a white tea cup with a wide brim and sloping sides. You'll also need a saucer large enough on which to turn the cup over.

Drink the tea and focus

When your tea is ready, pour a serving into the cup. Enjoy the tea, sipping slowly so you don't end up swallowing all the loose leaves. If you wish, you can use this time to focus on your question or issue you want information about.

Preparing the cup to be read

When your cup is almost empty, stop drinking. You want to leave a little bit of tea in the cup. Take a few breaths and focus on your question. Hold the cup in your hand and use your predominat hand to cover the cup. Swirl the tea three times counter-clockwise so that the leaves are moving and then gently tip the cup upside down onto the saucer to remove the liquid from your cup. Allow one or two minutes for the cup to drain before beginning the reading.